Firstly, can you give us an idea of the type of work your team has done recently?  

Over the past year, we have advised senior management and the different areas of our organisation on how to achieve our strategic objectives to mitigate potential legal and regulatory risks. Currently, leading the legal area of a fintech in our country is a challenge because it is a new sector with regulations still in the process of development, which represents a limitation for our clients due to the limited knowledge of these types of entities. Likewise, another limitation faced by FinTech is the constantly changing global context, which directly impacts organisations, from technological innovation, like metaverse or artificial intelligence, to regulatory changes. Undoubtedly, working hand in hand with our organisation makes it easier to stay aligned and keep the future in mind, to define strategies for the organisation, in order to boost the fintech sector at a national and regional level. As chief legal officer, we have designed, developed, and led the legal strategy alongside the business strategies to promote and protect the interests of the company, mitigate the risk, as well as direct, coordinate and control all legal matters ensuring compliance with current regulations and contractual obligations. As part of our PI Planning for 2023, our company has decided to develop various innovative products for our sector, which have required an analysis of the different areas to evaluate the different aspects, and the presentation of these analyses to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, which has always been willing to promote the Fintech sector in our country.
 

How do you keep up to date with changes in Dominican laws and regulations relevant to your organisation’s industry?
We keep up to date through research and continuous academic training, interaction with our colleagues, as well as through the Dominican Association of Fintech Companies (ADOFINTECH) and its Regulatory Working Group, which allows us to learn about the legal and regulatory initiatives that impact fintech at the national level.
 

What is a cause, business related or otherwise, that you care about, and why? 

Today, cyber and information security is a major factor to consider in achieving strategic objectives, with so many cyber-attacks and the ability of cyber criminals to reinvent themselves, it should be of concern to everyone and even more so to our sector as it is purely technology based. There is no doubt that “hackers” are always one step ahead in discovering vulnerabilities, and for these reasons, we must have robust controls and strategies in place to mitigate risks. It is also key that we keep employees aware of these risks as they are the first line of defence in these situations.